In case you haven’t seen this recent news story, I know many Veterans who own businesses may also take part in the VA home loans program or you know someone who does. If you are a disabled Veteran and paid the home loan fees you may be due a refund from the VA.
Since it passed the “Eddie” test, I basically ask my buddy Eddie if he had heard about the refunds (he has a VA loan) and he said no so I figured it was important enough to share it.
Over 50,000 disabled veterans might be owed as much as $190 million in refunds from the Department of Veterans Affairs for home loan fees because they may have been wrongly charged or no may longer owe.
The VA inspector general’s office did an audit and found that the VA was not refunding disabled veterans properly for home loan fees they had been charged.
Veterans pay the fees when they buy homes with the help of VA’s Home Loan Guaranty Program, but disabled Veterans are supposed to be exempt. These home loan fees can be as high as 3.3% of a home’s value.
In cases where disabled Veterans improperly paid the fees or the VA later determined they were disabled, the VA is supposed to issue refunds, but the VA hasn’t done that in more than a decade because the disabled Veterans never asked for the refunds.
Basically the agency dropped the ball by not following up to Veterans who were owed a refund.
If you paid the home loan fees and think you are owed a refund, you can visit the agency’s website for more information about the VA home loan program and follow the steps to see if you are one of those who were affected.